Empowering people to understand how their data is being used and their privacy is protected, is becoming an industry priority

Google’s decision to not drop third-party cookies on Chrome shouldn’t have come as a surprise. While third-party cookies have been the black sheep of online advertising for years – perceived as an easy way for publishers to collect data with a lack of appreciation of consumer rights – Google struggled to gain industry support for deprecation.

What was surprising was how long it took Google to figure this out. The good news is that the work put in by advertisers to find a workaround hasn’t been in vain: it’s taught them exactly how much smarter consumers are today about how their data is being shared, monetised and utilised.

As a result, it doesn’t matter today whether the cookie stays or goes. As an industry, we need to take a deep breath and collectively agree a new north star. With the increase in consumer data regulations and laws like GDPR and CCPA, the priority for advertisers has to become consumer choice – empowering people to understand how their data is being used and their privacy is protected.